Fournier for Congress

In recognition of a remarkable effort by a team of volunteers to put my name on the ballot for Congress, the Connecticut League of Women Voters invited me to submit a brief bio and answers to three questions for inclusion in the League’s on-line Voters’ Guide, slated to appear September 19 at http://www.lwvct.org.

I was disappointed that none of the questions probed my opinion of our policy of permanent warfare or our toleration of thugs in government, but I’ll seize any opportunity to rant, and so I answered as follows (abiding by limits on the number of words in my responses):

Bio
I attended the Hartford Public Schools and earned a BA and JD from the University of Connecticut. I served in the Air Force from 1966 to 1970. My wife Ruth (Tomasko) and I have three children and three grandchildren. We have been involved in the peace movement since 1970. I was elected to Hartford’s Board of Education in 1995. I write Current Invective, an on-line newsletter, sing with a small ensemble, and practice law.

1. Do you believe that changes in election laws are needed to make elections, fair, accurate, secure and responsive to the needs of the voters? Please explain. 

I support changes that will make it easier for people to vote and, through greater participation, strengthen democratic institutions. Holding elections on weekends would enable all voters to cast ballots. Instant runoff voting, in which second-choices count, would encourage citizens to run for office and improve the quality of elected officials by giving voters more candidates to choose from. Public financing laws can stem the corruption of public officials, but they must not create impossible barriers for independents and minor party candidates.  As for the corruption of the electoral process itself, considered by many to have been a major factor in the creation of the current government, a paper copy of every ballot, however cast, has become indispensable. Of equal importance are accountable, non-partisan election authorities, with competent, voter-friendly staff and procedures at polling places. An election process without credibility cannot sustain democratic government for long. 

2. What steps would you support to meet the demand for energy and to ensure an economically and environmentally sustainable future? 

I support strict efficiency standards for all fuel-burning machinery (not just automobiles), no-fare public ground transportation, limits on disposable packaging and products, deep cuts in polluting emissions of all kinds (including carbon dioxide), and government incentives for “green” industry and wind, solar and geothermal power plants (and not for new nuclear plants). None of these objectives can be met until the reins of national policy are snatched from the corporate interests that benefit from our current wasteful and polluting system. My first priority in Congress would be to expose corrupt, polluting policies and link them to the individuals and parties that promote them. Mega-polluters like General Electric, DuPont, and Exxon must be curbed by government and not coddled. These interests use their vast wealth to buy influence over legislative and executive decisions, and Congress must put a stop to that.

3. What initiatives do you support to guarantee that people can obtain affordable, high quality health care?

Public health in the 21st Century demands more than mere access to affordable, high quality health care. Europeans don’t have to obtain health care. It is a right that they take for granted, that they fund with taxes, and that makes their lives better in a hundred ways. Americans who work for themselves and those whose employers don’t provide insurance must fork over thousands for an individual health insurance policy that may not pay a dime until they shell out thousands in deductibles. An expensive health problem or one that inteferes with work, even temporarily, can put such people into bankruptcy in short order. If Medicare–the national health care system for people over 65–were extended to everyone, Americans would be healthier and more secure. In Congress, I would press for a universal, taxpayer-funded health system, starting, immediately, with Medicare for all.